This last weekend kind of flew by.
This is us before:
People definitely got creative with their white outfits:
The run drew over 15,000 people, making it one of the largest 5k runs ever:
(it was kind of ridiculous how many people were there, but it was a benefit for Child Aid, which was awesome.)
During the color run, there are a number of color stations that you run through where people put the colored powder on the runners as they go by.
This was coming up to our first color:
Then after the race they have a giant party with music and every 15 minutes you count down then everyone throws their own personal color packet at once.
It was pretty cool. Here is us right after we threw ours:
(we had pink ones if you couldn't tell)
color cloud:
the ladies:
after:
(proof that the color comes off!)
Then Sunday morning we had a family coffee date.
Chris suggested I pull the heels (that he got me years ago) out of the back of the closet.
I'm so glad he did:
(cute right? He picked them out all by himself!)
We went to church in the evening, but Buck was not feeling well so we had to go home not too long after it started.
The boys are still trying to kick a cold they have had for a couple of weeks.
I think we are finally on the mend now!
Happy Tuesday Friends!
This weekend was pretty busy but it was so fun!
Saturday we did a little shopping at Trader Joe's and hung out with a bunch of friends.
We played telephone pictionary while Bennett and his friends Lucy and Blake destroyed our friend's house by de-alphabetizing their dvds, rearranging their bookshelves and wreaking havoc on a china set.
After we cleaned up the mess, we all went to dinner at the Spaghetti Factory.
I'm kicking myself for not taking pictures of all of our friends together (including babies) because this is the first time we have all been in the same room in a long time...very different with 3 babies!
Chris and I
carbo loaded for the 8k we would be running the next morning.
Mmm carbs.
Sunday morning pre-race:
Post race family pic:
The cool thing about the Shamrock run is that it runs through downtown Portland, so we were already familiar with our course. I never realized how many hills dowtown had until I ran it!
A view of the runners outside our window:
Bennett loved watching all the people go by from his bedroom window:
The last five weeks of training I have been running 11 minute miles, but I kicked butt at this race and ran 9.45 min miles (early in the morning, in the rain and on hills)! I contribute it to an amazing amount of adrenalin and sprinting a majority of the last mile just so I could be done! So all in all I ran my first 8k in 48mins and 22secs! I finished 324th out of 927 in my division...pretty good for my first race! And I also acheived obliterated my goal of not stopping at all, which lead to the reward Chris so graciously offered me:
Expensive, but the most comfortable piece of clothing I have ever put on. Hands down. I don't plan on working out in these babies, they have been moved into the 'everyday black leggings that go with everything' spot. Seriously, save your pennies and go get some.
They will change your life!
We also did a lot of playing in boxes this weekend:
And we enjoyed spending lots of time with Chris since he's been incredibly busy working crazy hours.
We love him and his hard-working self! :)
Speaking of Chris, he joined the 21st century Sunday and got an iphone.
I plan on joining in June when I'm able to upgrade, hopefully to an iphone 5...booya!
( did I really just say that?)
On Friday I took a picture every hour and am working on a post for it, so be sure to be looking for it in the next few days! It's always interesting to see what people's days are like. Luckily I chose a non-boring day to do it on!
Stay tuned...
For date night on Friday, Chris and I went to see Hood to Coast at
Living Room Theater. I can't recommend the movie enough...it's a documentary about the world's largest relay race, which just so happens to run from the top of Mt. Hood, through downtown Portland and finished in Seaside on the Oregon Coast (almost 200 miles with 12,000 participants!) The movie was awesome and the best part is that even if you aren't a fan of running, you would still love it! It was so much more than I expected it to be, but I wasn't informed that I would need tissues (bring some along)! Make sure you go see it soon (it's not just playing in Oregon) because they brought it back to theaters for a limited run because it was so popular!
Saturday morning Chris went to work so Bennett and I played til he got back, then we spent the afternoon walking around downtown (sans rain!). It felt soo good to be outside in the fresh air! After Bennett's nap we went to church then came back home. Nothing too eventful, but that's not a bad thing!
Sunday morning we got up and decided to go for a run around the waterfront.
no I didn't stop to take pictures, these are from last spring.
It was foggy and cold, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be pouring for our race this next Sunday so I didn't want to be a baby about it. This seriously is the most beautiful loop to run (it's a 2.5 mile run starting at our front door.) You cross two bridges and always have the river and the Portland skyline on either side of you. I can't complain.
Sunday afternoon, Bennett and I took Chris to the airport for a quick business trip to Arizona. I was bummed that he was leaving but was looking forward to girl time with Lauren!
Once we got home, Lauren came and we walked down a block to the Portland Art Museum. They were having a free admission day, but we weren't going for the art (art shmart-don't hate me cause I'm not interested). We were going for the burgers!
Lucy's Original parked their truck at the museum and we (along with a buttload of others) got to nosh on the goodness that is Lucy's. Seriously people, if you are in/near/visiting/ Portland, you must go!
Little Buds and Lauren waiting patiently for the food:
the Juicy Lucy:
(I loved everything about this burger. mmm.)
amazing banana cake:
While we were waiting for our food, we ran down to
Violetta to get some sweet potato fries to go with, as if we needed anything else. To read more about Lucy's Original check out Lauren's post
here.
We brought the food back and it was gone in no time. Lauren was nice enough to share her burger with Bennett, (I kept mine to myself) (don't judge, I ran 2.5 miles in the cold) however I did give him a few bites of cake and he throughouly enjoyed it!
I had been waiting (not so patiently) to watch
Emily Henderson's Secrets from a Stylist with Lauren since the premier the week before. Emily (a fellow Portlander) won HGTV's Design Star last year and I rooted for her all along. She is such a breath of fresh air to HGTV! She is pretty much amazing, sarcastic and a great stylist all in one cute little package. (did I mention I want her wardrobe?)
We watched Emily do her thing while we chomped down the ginormous slice of banana cake from Lucy's. Amazing.
The little Buds and I will head to the airport in a few hours to go pick up Chris.
I can't wait! :)
...that's what I tell myself when I feel like stopping (which is a lot).
On my
last post, I mentioned that in five weeks I went from absolutely hating running to running 4.5 miles without stopping. I got a few comments from people asking how I did it, so I thought I'd fill you guys in on what I've been doing with the hopes of inspiring even just one person to do something similar.
One of the things I wanted to do in 2011 was to get in the best shape of my life. It's no secret that you put weight on during pregnancy. I lost all the baby weight (plus some) within six months, but my body certainly did not have the same shape it used to (eventhough I weighed more pre-baby).
I was determined to get into the best shape of my life so that after I have #2 (in the distant future) (no mom, I'm not pregnant) I won't have a post-baby body x2 to lose (you bounce back quicker if you're in shape to begin with. duh.) Also, I've tried quite a few workouts but nothing has ever given me the results that running has...so running it is!
So what did I do you ask?
- I wrote down my goal (like I previously mentioned). This made it concrete and harder to ignore.
- I signed up for an 8k (About 5 miles). This gave me a goal to work towards. No excuses now. I'm doing the Shamrock Run on March 13th...two weeks to go!
- I was properly fitted for running shoes that worked with the way I run. Don't just go out and buy the shoes you think are the cutest. I made that mistake first, and my hip paid the price.
- I got breathable (non-cotton) workout gear, including shorts, knee length pants, a tank top, socks and a few sports bras. It's amazing how much farther you can run if you're comfortable!
- I made a training plan. Well, Chris did for me with the help of his excellence (get it?!)...
click to enlarge
I cross off the days as I go and I really enjoy crossing out those little boxes!
(we checked out the JM workouts from the public library and ripped them onto our computer, not the best quality but who cares, you're working out!)
These are the other workouts that I do because I want to break up the
running but still be working out 5 days a week:
(I workout for an average of 45mins a day, though the fitball/short JM days are about 25mins)
Long JM:
Short JM:
(level 3)
Fitball:
Giam fitball workout kit. Bought at Target (also $23.98 at
Amazon). Comes with a 4lb. medicine ball and a great dvd with two workouts. This is the workout I started out with after Bennett was born. Great for beginners!
It would be ideal to just run MWF but I go grocery shopping every other friday morning, which left me no energy for running (3-4 different stores with a toddler is hard people)! That explains the switcheroo on those weeks.
Speaking of being tired, I think it's extremely important to schedule in a time for exercise, because it is so easy to just push it away if it's not "convenient", then before you know it you are going to bed feeling guilty that you put it off yet again! I'm not saying I'm perfect at this by any means but I do know that I feel a lot better about myself when I get in a workout. Just last week I started getting up at 5:30 to go run while Bennett is still sleeping and Chris is getting ready for work. I really like getting my workout out of the way so I don't have to worry about it for the rest of the day. If it works for you to get up early to make sure you get your workout in, I would definitely recommend it!
Recently,
Sheena (also a former hater) has written two posts that are inspiring and packed full of good info for beginning runners. Read
running101 and
running 201. Oh and the 3-mile wall she talks about is real. The first three miles are always the hardest while your body warms up. It gets better after that. I promise!
Regardless of everything I have posted here, I wouldn't be able to do any of it without my awesome hubby. Aside from planning my training schedule, for a majority of the time Chris has been coming home on his lunch breaks to stay with Bennett so that I can go run. He also is going to be running right next to me on race day! Even though he is planning to do his first marathon this year (he's crazy, I know) it still means a lot for him to run my little ol' 8k with me! Thanks Chris. :)
